I see a lot of painted brake calipers here, so I'm hoping you can help me...

I'm replacing my stock brake pads with Hawks. The front pads went on fine, as I could compress the pistons with my hands. The rears calipers will NOT compress. I have removed one caliper COMPLETLY and disconnected the E-brake and the piston will not BUDGE beyond it's original position.
The stock rear pads were almost gone and the new Hawks pads are almost 3 times the thickness of the current stock pads. I need almost 3/8 more clearance to get the rear calpiers over the new pads.

Am I missing something? Anyone else have this problem and find a solution?

Thanks you your help.

 

You need to loosen the bleeder valve and use a C-clamp (I think thats what its called) and compress the piston.

 

A C-clamp will do the trick .

 

Yeah I tried a C clamp for the rears and it won't budge. For the front it worked perfectly fine but for the rear it won't compress. Is there a trick?

 

No trick. Just open the cap on the brake fluid res and use a c-clamp. No issues when I did it last weekend. You might want to try extending the pad housing out so you can get a better grip on just the caliper.

I see you are in Charlotte. Where do you live? I can usually provide help in my area.

 

Did you loosen the bleeder valve on the caliper? It will allow the brake fluid to escape and let you compress the piston.

 

No trick. Are you having a problem with both or just one? How many miles on the car? Could be a bad seal or stuck piston.

 

You don't need to loosen the bleeder screws to compress the piston.

 

:shrugs: I figured it would make it easier but I know it can be done without.

 

As said above, if a C clamp wont work, it is a stuck piston.

Chris

 

should have replaced the rear pads much much sooner. i replaced mine at 16k miles and they were still at half the thickness as the new ones.

 

Thanks for the help guys. Finally got it after opening the brake fluid cap and using a real big c-clamp. A small c-clamp didn't work.

 

Thanks. I finally got it off.
I live near Southpark btw.

 

$10 at Sears. Worth every penny.

Asterix

 

Tip: The piston will force the brake fluid into the reservoir. You should remove some fluid from the reservoir if you see it getting too high due to the piston compression (turkey baster works good for this). I always leave the cap loose but covering the reservoir to keep debris from getting in there.